Abstract
Shuttle radar images (SIR-A) of volcanic and impact craters were examined to assess their appearance on radar images. Radar characteristics were determined for: (a) 9 maarlike craters in the Pinacate volcanic field, Sonora, Mexico; (b) the caldera of Cerro Volcan Quemado, in the Bolivian Andes; (c) Talemzane impact crater, Algeria; and (d) Al Umchaimin, a possible impact structure in Iraq. SIR-A images were compared with conventional photographs and with results from field studies. Consideration was then given to radar images available for Venus, or anticipated from the Magellan mission. Of the criteria ordinarily used to identify impact craters, some can be assessed with radar images and others cannot be used; planimetric form — expressed as circularity — and ejecta-block distribution can be assessed on radar images, but rim and floor elevations relative to the surrounding plain and disposition of rim strata are difficult or impossible to determine. We conclude that it will be difficult to separate small impact craters from small volcanic craters on Venus using radar images, and suggest that it will be necessary to understand the geological setting of the areas containing in order to determine their origin.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ahlfeld, F. E.: 1972, Geologia de Bolivia, Los Amigos del Libro, La Paz, 190 pp.
Anderson, D. L.: 1981, Geophys. Res. Letters 8, 309.
Arvidson, R. E. and Mutch, T. A.: 1974, Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 85, 99.
Basilevsky, A.: 1984, /lsImpact Craters on Venus/rs, paper presented at Lunar Planet. Sci. 15th.
Beckmann, P. and Spizzichino, A.: 1963, The Scattering of Electromagnetic Waves from Rough Surfaces, Pergamon, New York.
Brady, L. F.: 1954, The Crater of Talemzane in Algeria, Sky and Telescope 13, 297.
Burns, B. A. and Campbell, D. B.: 1985, J. Geophys. Res. 90, 3037.
Campbell, D. B. and Burns, B. A.: 1980, J. Geophys. Res. 85, 8271.
Campbell, M. J. and Ulrichs, J.: 1969, J. Geophys. Res. 74, 5867.
Cutts, J. A., Thompson, T. W., and Lewis, B. H.: 1981, Icarus 48, 428.
Donahue, T. M., Hoffman, J. H., Hodges, R. R., Jr., and Watson, A. J.: 1982, Science 216, 630.
Donnelly, M.: 1974, Geology of the Sierra del Pinacate Volcanic Field, Northern Sonora, Mexico, and Southern Arizona, U.S.A., (Ph.D. dissert.), Stanford, Calif., Stanford Univ., 722 pp.
Downs, G. S., Reichley, P. E., and Green, R. R.: 1975, Icarus 26, 273.
Elachi, C., Brown, W. E., Cimino, J. B., Dixon, T., Evans, D. L., Ford, J. P., Saunders, R. S., Breed, C., Masursky, H., McCauley, J. F., Schaber, G., Dellwig, L., England, A., MacDonald, H., Martin-Kaye, P., and Sabins, F.: 1982, Science 218, 996.
Garvin, J. B., Head, J. W., and Wilson, L.: 1982, Icarus 52, 365.
Greeley, R. and Gault, D. E.: 1979, Proc. Lunar Planet. Sci. Conf. 10th, pp. 2919–2933.
Gutmann, J. T.: 1972, Eruptive History and Petrology of Crater Elegante, Sonora, Mexico, (Ph.D. dissert.), Stanford, Calif., Stanford Univ., 235 pp.
Gutmann, J. T.: 1976, Geol. Soc. Am./ Bull. 87, 1718.
Gutmann, J. T. and Sheridan, M. F.: 1978, in D. M. Burt and T. L. Pewe (eds.), Guidebook to the Geology of Central Arizona, Arizona Bur. Mines and Mineral Tech., Spec. Paper 2, pp. 47–59.
Hagfors, T.: 1964, J. Geophys. Res. 69, 3779.
Hagfors, T., Brockelman, R. A., Danforth, H. H., Hanson, L. B., and Hyde, G. M.: 1965, Science 150, 1153.
Hartmann, W. K., Strom, R. G., Weidenschilling, S. J., Blasius, K. R., Woronow, A., Dence, M. R., Grieve, R. A. F., Diaz, J., Chapman, C. R., Shoemaker, E. M., and Jones, K. L.: 1981, in Basaltic Volcanism on the Terrestrial Planets, Pergamon Press, New York, pp. 1049–1127.
Head, J. W., Peterfreund, A. R., and Garvin, J. B.: 1985, J. Geophys. Res. 90, 6873.
Head, J. W. and Wilson, L.: 1982, Lunar Planet. Sci. 13, 312.
Head, J. W. and Wilson, L.: 1985, Volcanic Processes and Landforms on Venus: Theory, Predictions, and Observations, J. Geophys. Res. (in press).
Hoekstra, P. and Delaney, A.: 1974, J. Geophys. Res. 78, 1699.
Jahns, R. H.: 1959, Ariz. Geol. Soc. Digest: 2, 165.
Jahns, R. H. and Fielder, R. G.: 1952, Engin. and Sci. 15, 13.
Karpoff, R.: 1954, C.R. Congress Geol. Internat. Alger, 1952, Sect. 13, Fas. 14, pp. 233–241.
Lambert, P., McHone, J. F., Dietz, R. S., and Houfani, M.: 1980, Meteoritics 15, 157.
Lynch, D. J.: 1981, Genesis and Geochronology of Alkaline Volcanism in the Pinacate Volcanic Field, Northwestern Sonora, Mexico, unpubl. Ph.D. thesis, Univ. of Arizona, Tucson, 248 pp.
Masursky, H., Eliason, E., Ford, P. G., McGill, G. E., Pettengill, G. H., Schaber, G. G., and Schubert, G.: 1980, J. Geophys. Res. 85, 8232.
Merriam, R. and Holwerda, J. G.: 1957, Geographical J. 123, 231.
Moore, H. J., Boyce, J. M., Schaber, G. G., and Scott, D. H.: 1980, Lunar Remote Sensing and Measurements, U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1046-B.
Muhleman, D. O.: 1964, Astron. J. 69, 34.
Murray, J. B. and Guest, J. E.: 1970, Modern Geology 1, 149.
Oberbeck, V. R., Aoyagi, M., and Murray, J. B.: 1972, Modern Geology 3, 195.
Pettengill, G. H., Eliason, E., Ford, P. G., Loriot, G. B., Masursky, H., and McGill, G. E.: 1980, J. Geophys. Res. 85, 8261.
Pettengill, G. H., Shapiro, I. I., and Rogers, A. E. E.: 1973, Icarus 18, 22.
Schaber, G. G. and Boyce, J. M.: 1977, in D. J. Roddy, R. O. Pepin, and R. B. Merrill (eds.), Impact and Explosion Cratering, Pergamon Press, New York, pp. 603–612.
Settle, M. and Taranik, V. V.: 1982, Science 218, 993.
Simpson, R. A., Tyler, G. L., and Campbell, D. B.: 1978, Icarus 36, 153.
Tyler, G. L., Simpson, R. A., and Moore, H. J.: 1971, J. Geophys. Res. 76, 2790.
Wood, C. A.: 1974, Bull. Volcanol. 38, 149.
Additional information
Department of Geology.
Center for Meteorite Studies, Arizona State University, Tempe, Ariz., U.S.A.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Greeley, R., Christensen, P.R. & McHone, J.F. Radar characteristics of small craters: Implications for Venus. Earth Moon Planet 37, 89–111 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00054327
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00054327